


Letters

by TheMomeRath



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-12
Updated: 2014-08-12
Packaged: 2018-02-12 19:59:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2122761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMomeRath/pseuds/TheMomeRath
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While packing up boxes to prepare for a move to his new house, Jack runs across one box full of ever single note or letter he gave to his husband, from college until that day. He finds himself caught up in reading them all and reminiscing about the times they shared when they were younger.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Letters

Jack carried the last box down the rickety staircase and closed the attic entrance. He walked through his living room and set it on the dining room table.  _This one is unlabeled_ , he thought, puzzled. I _wonder what’s in it._

Carefully, he peeled off the tape that held it closed and raised the edges, and was surprised to see pages upon pages of loose paper.

_Wait, that’s… That’s my handwriting!_  He picked up the top sheet.  _No, it couldn’t be…_

"Hic- meet me after you’re done with class at the coffee shop. I have something I want to talk to you about."

_He saved_ that _? Why on earth…_  Jack set the sheet of paper alongside the box and pulled out the stack that was sitting below it. He pulled off the paper clip that held them together and began to read.

"Hic- I never got to talk to you about what I wanted to talk about. I guess I chickened a little… Can you meet me tomorrow? In my room?"

Jack blushed.  _Oh, yeah,_ that _night._  He flipped to the next.

"Hiccup- I’m excited beyond words. Thank you so much for last night. I can’t say I quite expected things to go how they did… I can’t wait to kiss you again."

Jack smiled at this, recalling the afternoon. He and Hiccup had met in his dorm room and Jack finally tried to explain his feelings for the other, wonderful boy. After some time of awkward silences, they had discovered that the feeling was mutual. Then, Jack’s roommate had walked in on them kissing.  _That poor guy must have been shocked beyond belief_ , he thought, shaking his head and letting out a chuckle. He paged through the notes as they grew progressively longer, turning into typed letters and emails.

"It’s been too long since I’ve seen you. When you get back to school I am going to hug you so hard… And then I will kiss you until you can’t feel anything anymore. And I will keep on kissing you…"

The letter went on, and Jack’s cheeks grew progressively more red as he saw all the things he said he would do.

He remembered that week vividly.

Hiccup had gone home because his cousin had passed away, and the funeral kept the bit at home longer than Jack expected. When hiccup finally came in the door, a tired smile on his face, he raised his arms and Jack had rushed to him and hugged him for hours. They fell asleep on the couch, Jack protecting his love from any sadness with a constant embrace.

_I think I only kissed him once that night. But I think that was exactly what he needed._ A tear came to Jack’s eye as he remembered how affected Hiccup was by his cousin’s passing.  _I’m glad I could do anything to comfort him._

The next piece of paper was still in an envelope. Jack opened it, curious. Our wedding invitation… He smiled and passed his fingers over the embossed silver snowflakes.  _What a beautiful day that was._  He sighed and set the invitation down and looked at the next few cards, held together by a rubber band.  _My postcards,_ he thought, smiling.

He and Hiccup had decide it would be cute to mail a postcard from each place they visited on their honeymoon to a different person back home- those would be their wedding thank-you cards. But Jack had secretly sent a postcard for his husband to the apartment they would be coming back to to live in. Vienna, Prague, Paris, Rome, Florence, Athens; all of the cards were in the box- even the one he had jokingly sent home on the first day that had a picture of the airport on it. Hiccup had saved every single one.

The letters grew sparse from that point out, but there were the sticky notes he left on the door every day on his way out for work. Some of them were barely even sentences, but an “I love you” was visible at the bottom of each.

Tears started to pool in his eyes as he realized how wonderful Hiccup was for him. This box had every note and letter he had passed or mailed since that first attempted date.

Jack wiped his eyes and set the stack down. He then went to go grab a yellow pad of paper from his desk and began to write.

A few minutes later, Jack scratched out his signature and folded up the paper. Sticking it in his coat pocket, he picked up the bouquet of flowers that were sitting on the table, stepped outside and walked a couple blocks to a set of wrought-iron gates standing tall and solemn.

He stepped through them and walked down the drive until he saw what he was looking for.

"Hello, love," he said, kneeling down in the dewy grass. "I brought you flowers and a letter…" He pulled out his new message and opened it to read.

"Dear Hic," he began.

_"I love you. I know you always knew that. It’s been a strange time without you around. I wish I could keep holding your hand._

_"Do you remember that time when you helped the neighbors fix their lawnmower? You were in their garage for six hours, and when you finally got done, it was pouring rain so hard that they couldn’t use it? Well, they still talk about that. They loved how you were so willing to help, even if it was going to take forever._

_"And people still talk about that other time when you took in that stray cat that was terrorising the neighborhood pets. He’s still around- I’m not letting him go if I can help it._

_"I really wish I could have spent more time with you. You know, to tell you that I loved you every morning. I didn’t like seeing you in that hospital. You were so frail those last couple weeks… I hated the fact that you didn’t have any strength left._

_"It’s the three year anniversary of the day you died, you know. I didn’t even get to kiss you goodbye… The doctors told me I couldn’t."_

Jack wiped the tear that was running down his cheek.

_"I should have told you more often, more than once every day. I should have held you closer when I could have._

_"I love you, Hic. I miss you. I bet you’re a shining star where you are right now._

_"Your husband forever, Jack."_

He closed the letter and ran his finger through the carved letter H in the marble and sighed. “I found the box of all my notes today. I can’t believe you saved all of them… You sent me a ways back.” He started to fold up the letter to put it in his pocket, but stopped himself. “I finally have everything packed to move. I just wish you could come with me.”

He set the bouquet on the grave marker and smiled, eyes sparkling with teardrops. “I love you, Hic. Always will. You were something special.” He set the letter down on the wet stone next to the flowers. “I’ll come back for you. Every year. I promise.” He leaned over and kissed his husband’s carved name, then, smiling, he stood and whispered, “Goodbye, love,” and walked out of the cemetery.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Don't kill me. I know it's not the happiest ending possible, but there is closure. You KNOW Jack's going to come back. He's not ever going to leave his love behind. (I'm arguing with myself; this is pointless and I know it.)


End file.
